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Eminem Kneels During Halftime Show, NFL Says It Was Aware; CNN Poll: Many In Parties Hope To Find Alternatives To Biden And Trump; Parkland Survivors, Parents Demand Biden Deliver On Gun Reform. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired February 14, 2022 - 07:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[07:30:03]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It was a nail-biter of a night for longtime L.A. Rams fans. They've had a team for five years. Their team drove for a last-minute touchdown to score a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. It was an equally fun night for those who tuned in for the halftime show and the commercials.

Entertainment reporter Chloe Melas breaks it all down with our Morning Pop -- Chloe.

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Good morning, John.

At the halftime show, nostalgia took the stage, which was decked out to look like the ultimate '90s house party. Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre paid homage to the Super Bowl host city, taking it back to the streets of Compton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Clip from halftime show featuring Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MELAS: Mary J. Blige performed a medley of her biggest hits, followed by Kendrick Lamar who performed with a group of perfectly-synced backup dancers. And in a bit of a surprise --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Clip from halftime show featuring 50 Cent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MELAS: Yes, 50 Cent joined the show with his 2003 hit "In da Club." (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Clip from halftime show featuring Eminem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MELAS: Eminem made waves with an explosive performance of his hit "Lose Yourself," but it's how he ended his set that has everybody talking this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Clip from halftime show featuring Eminem kneeling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MELA: The rap star took a knee echoing Colin Kaepernick's protest against racial injustice that roiled the NFL for years. This comes at a particularly sensitive moment for the NFL after recently-fired Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores sued the league and several teams over alleged racial discrimination in its hiring practices.

Now, even the commercials served up some '90s nostalgia, like GM bringing back Dr. Evil and other "Austin Powers" fan's favorites.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Clip from General Motors ad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MELAS: We also saw Tony Soprano's kids all grown up and pitching Chevy's electric vehicles to a new generation.

The '90s, like the smooth styling of Kenny G in this Anheuser-Busch commercial.

Now, it wasn't all about the '90s though. Super Bowl LVI has been coined the 'Crypto Bowl' and stars like Larry David, Matt Damon, and Tom Brady were among those in crypto commercials. And John, I am sure that you loved this one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Clip from FTX ad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MELAS: John, you liked that one, right?

BERMAN: I only saw that one this morning. Somehow I must have actually been eating or something when that one aired. The Larry David ad, to me, was the funniest ad. I laughed out loud.

MELAS: I know. That was such a surprise. People were not expecting it. And I'm telling you, I felt like every single commercial, John, was crypto, crypto, crypto. So -- I mean, that's why they call it the 'Crypto Bowl' after all.

BERMAN: Yes, or online betting -- one or the other.

Chloe Melas, thank you very much.

MELAS: Thank you.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: All right, joining us now is cultural commentator C.J. Farley -- and author of the new book "Zero O:Clock." And, Mara Schiavocampo, the host of the "Run Tell This" podcast.

We have a lot to talk about and we are going to discuss the Larry David ad. But first, I want to talk about Eminem kneeling, C.J. I want to know what you thought about that. Dr. Dre -- he kept an anti-police lyric and I'm wondering if this was enough for some viewers who were definitely expecting more activism.

CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY, CULTURAL COMMENTATOR, AUTHOR, "ZERO O:CLOCK, FORMER MUSIC CRITIC, TIME MAGAZINE (via Skype): Well, you know, at first, I didn't know why he was doing it. I thought he was kneeling in tribute to Dr. Dre. And later, I thought maybe he lost a contact. And then later, I thought maybe he was trying to propose like one of the L.A. Rams players did later on. So, I didn't know what was going on.

And if people can't tell what your protest is about, I don't know how hard it hits. I'm glad if it was a Colin Kaepernick tribute that they did it because something had to be said or done to acknowledge what was going on.

I thought the whole Super Bowl, which was an exciting game -- don't get me wrong -- it was exciting as a game can be without the Bills or Eli Manning involved.

I thought it was an exciting game but the whole thing felt to me like an extended version of "We Don't' Talk About Bruno" where there's one thing people are really talking about but no one mentions him by name. Because all of the tributes had to do with trailblazers and people who are fighting against the power -- like, Mary Mary singing "Lift Every Voice and Sing" and having Black country star Mickey Guyton singing the National Anthem. And having Billie Jean King do the coin flip.

[07:35:00]

And yet, nobody actually mentioned the guy that really helped inspire protests at the NFL level, and that was Colin Kaepernick. So, I guess Colin Kaepernick was our Bruno last night.

BERMAN: Mara?

MARA SCHIAVOCAMPO, JOURNALIST, HOST, "RUN TELL THIS" PODCAST (via Skype): Yes. You know, it was disappointing that Eminem was the only one who took a knee because it showed that none of the others were willing to take a position on the unspoken, as C.J. pointed out.

But I also think it's really important to acknowledge in the context of talking about Eminem what a huge night this was for hip-hop. I mean, you cannot overlook the fact that this was the first time you had an all-hip-hop lineup performing at the Super Bowl. You have these icons of West Coast rap performing in L.A., and it was one of the best performances ever.

But, while it's important to recognize and acknowledge that it was a good night for hip-hop, it's almost important to recognize that it was a bad day for the movement. Because the NFL was able to successfully use Black performers to distract Black audiences from the issues that are important to them without making any meaningful change whatsoever. It's a little bit like putting a Band-Aid on a tumor. All the problems that the NFL has been accused of are still there. They are still active.

They know that they have a P.R. problem. The reason we know they have a P.R. problem is because they did put all of this diversity in front of the camera. Now, that's a good thing. All of these Black performers deserve those opportunities and should be showcased, but that is not enough.

What Brian Flores is fighting for, what Colin Kaepernick was robbed of is economic opportunity in the NFL, and that is what they consistently refuse to make changes on.

KEILAR: Yes. Look, it's a good show and yet, raises so many questions at this critical time for the NFL.

And, Mara, I know you're a UCLA grad. I know you, of all people -- you're watching this homage to Los Angeles. The fact that the field actually looks like Los Angeles when you're flying into LAX, which I thought was very cool. And yet, the subtext of what's going on was so big.

And, C.J., I know you say that the Eminem thing -- you weren't even sure what he was doing. He kind of tipped his hand. We read the stories ahead of time that he might be doing this. So once he kneeled and he stayed kneeled, it was sort of clear what he was -- what he was doing.

FARLEY: Yes, but if the NFL -- the NFL later said hey, we knew this was going to happen -- reportedly said that we knew this was going to happen ahead of time. So if the -- if someone knows you're going to do a protest ahead of time and it -- you don't really say to the public exactly what it's about, it's hard to tell how great and how radical a stance that really is.

I think it's right that we need to see some meaningful change here. Only two coaches -- two coaches in the NFL are Black out of 32 coaches right now -- only two. And 70 percent of the players are Black.

So unless they start changing some of those higher -- hiring numbers, unless they start dealing with some of the issues that Colin Kaepernick so meaningfully raised -- unless they think about some way to compensate him for the loss that he suffered for fighting for all the issues they're raising now, things are always going to feel wrong in the NFL. You know, it's still fun to watch the commercials, it's still fun to

watch the game, but there's some missing part there unless they actually meaningfully engage with the issues involved and have some truth and reconciliation about what happened beforehand.

BERMAN: I have to say I was just struck the whole time by the fact that this was America embracing -- and all the people on Twitter, including conservatives, saying about how great it was. There were hearings -- like, congressional hearings going after these artists in the '90s. We've come a long way since then, at least in terms of how they're perceived in our culture.

I liked the Larry David ad. Can I just put that up for a second? I thought it was really funny.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Clip from FTX ad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I laughed, Mara. I legitimately laughed as if I were watching, like, a sitcom.

SCHIAVOCAMPO: Yes, that was a great one. I really loved Salma Hayek and Arnold Schwarzenegger as a Greek god and goddess for an electric car commercial.

But my absolute favorite was the Coinbase commercial with the bouncing QR code. Because me, like so many others -- I was up there chasing it around with my phone like a cat with a laser pointer just to see what the QR was going to take me to, and it took me to Coinbase's landing page with a promotional offer for $15.00 off for signing up. I thought it was absolutely brilliant. It's not the kind of thing you can do more than once but, boy, did they nail it.

KEILAR: Yes, and it crashed, right? A lot of people were doing it.

[07:40:00]

C.J., I was afraid. What if someone's hacked in and they're trying to get the info on my phone through a QR code?

FRALEY: Yes, I thought that was a clever ad, too.

I did like, emotionally and also technologically, the ad for the Google Pixel 6's real tone thing where the head that -- the head -- the tagline "Everyone deserves to be seen as they truly are." It's some sort of thing, I gather from the commercial, that allows you to -- allows Black people to be seen better on their phones.

That's a problem I think anyone who is of color has dealt with where you take a picture and you're like, I don't really -- I'm not really appearing in this picture. What's happening? Why can't I be seen in the yearbook photo? I look like just a shadow. What's going on here? So, I thought in a show that was talking so much about diversity and about representation, that was a technological way to actually make sure people are represented in their photos. So that hit home I think for a lot of people, including me.

KEILAR: Yes. I'm really glad that you -- that you sort of elevated that and pointed out that ad.

C.J., thank you so much. Mara, thank you so much. We had so much to talk about this morning and I appreciate it.

FARLEY: Thank you.

SCHIAVOCAMPO: Thank you.

FARLEY: Go, Bills!

KEILAR: They were not in the game.

OK, a 2024 rematch. A new CNN poll revealing how voters feel about the two biggest names in American politics.

BERMAN: And it's Valentine's Day. What gift do most people want? I'm telling you, it's slacks. A nice, comfortable, well-fitting pair of pants is always good. CNN data and love extraordinaire coach Harry Enten is here with the statistics.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:52]

BERMAN: So, new polling this morning suggests that some Democrats might be open to having a different name than Biden at the top of the presidential ticket.

Joining me now, Harry Enten, CNN senior data reporter. Let's look at the numbers.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Look at the numbers. I've got this nice new haircut so we can look at the numbers together with my nice new haircut. Isn't that nice?

So, who is your preferred 2024 Democratic presidential nominee? This is among potential Democratic primary voters. Joe Biden, 45 percent, but that is below 50 percent.

And if you add in another specific person -- just not Biden -- that is north of where this 45 percent is. Though, here is the important nugget -- you can't beat somebody with nobody. And at this particular point, another specific person is just at 12 percent. There is this 37 percent who just say just not Biden.

BERMAN: This is an unusual number for an incumbent president.

ENTEN: It is very, very low for an incumbent president.

BERMAN: In terms of where we are now, though, it's not so bad compared to, say, Donald Trump.

ENTEN: No. I mean, Donald Trump is basically in the same position, right? Who is your preferred 2024 GOP presidential nominee? Trump, 50 percent. Half the party is in another space, basically just like the Democratic side.

But again, you can't beat somebody with nobody. Another specific person in mind comes in at just 19 percent, just not Trump here at 29 percent. You add those two together -- awfully close to the 50 percent within the margin of error.

So this kind of points out that both on the Democratic and on the Republican side -- yes, there are clear frontrunners for the nomination at this early point, but there are a lot of voters who are just kind of staying back and just saying maybe I don't like the status quo but there's no in particular I have in mind.

BERMAN: So, Trump and Biden might be in the same bubble, but when we're talking about Democrats and republicans writ large, there are some pretty big differences.

ENTEN: There are some pretty big differences. And basically, we asked what are your feeling about the 2024 presidential election? Are you looking forward to it or are you dreading it? I, myself, am looking forward to it because I love analyzing this stuff.

But look -- among Democrats -- those Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independents, 55 percent -- the majority say they dread it. Among the Republican side, however, a lot of enthusiasm ahead of 2024. They can't wait. Eighty-one percent say they're looking forward to it.

So, Democrats dreading and Republicans are like this looks nice.

BERMAN: All right, love doctor, let's talk about Valentine's Day --

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: -- here. What do people -- well, let's talk about Valentine's Day cards, first.

ENTEN: Yes, yes. This number surprised me because my mother is always in my inbox saying did you get a card for so and so?

BERMAN: I'm sure she loves the imitation more than anything.

ENTEN: Yes. You know what, she should be lucky I mentioned her at all.

Does your partner usually give you a card on Valentine's Day? Among those with a partner, 55 percent overall. But just 41 percent in my age bracket, John -- whatever age bracket you're in up here -- the majority of my age bracket is sucking at love, if I can say so much. Come on, let's do better than this, folks.

BERMAN: Yes. By the way, I'm nowhere near 55 so, like, don't pretend there's ambiguity about that. Let's talk about Valentine's Day gifts now.

ENTEN: Keep it simple. Keep it simple.

What Valentine's Day gift would make your partner happy -- would make you happy if your partner gave? Thirty-seven percent of the plurality, stay home and do favorite activity. Night out at dinner or a show, 25 percent. But just candy and flowers, 17 percent. Add that together with stay home and do a favorite activity -- that's the majority.

Keep it simple. Love is simple.

BERMAN: I kind of want to know what favorite activity is. There's a lot of -- you know, talking about ambiguity right there on Valentine's Day.

All right, Harry, we've got to go. I know you're going to go to White Castle.

ENTEN: No. I can't go to White Castle because it's closed. So I wanted to ask you and Brianna if you had any ideas of what I should do.

BERMAN: Taco Bell.

ENTEN: Well, who knows?

Harry Enten, thank you --

ENTEN: Wendy's.

BERMAN: -- very much -- Brianna.

Oh, we do have breaking news to tell you about. A Russian figure skater allowed to keep competing in the Olympics despite testing positive for a banned substance before the games.

KEILAR: Plus, just in, a father who lost his son in the Parkland massacre is, right now, on top of a crane here in Washington, D.C. overlooking the White House, sending a message on this anniversary. His wife will join us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:53:49]

KEILAR: Breaking this morning, a dad who lost his son in the Parkland shooting is marking today's anniversary by climbing on top of a crane in Washington, D.C. to send a message for President Biden. We're going to have more on this in a moment. This is a video that he has shot there.

Today, of course, is the fourth anniversary of the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 students and teachers were gunned down by a shooter with an AR-15 semiautomatic weapon. And in remembrance of this day, Parkland parents, survivors, and

advocates have launched a new gun violence tracker which keeps track of all gun deaths and injuries since President Biden took office, and they're urging all Americans to join them in sending a powerful message to the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANUEL OLIVER, FATHER OF JOAQUIN OLIVER, KILLED IN PARKLAND SHOOTING: Thanks to a lack of action from Congress and a lack of urgency from the White House, this is what it looked like after President Biden's first year. We call it the "Shock Market." And as the father Joaquin Oliver, who was murdered four years ago in the Parkland shooting, President Biden, I call these unacceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:55:02]

KEILAR: Joining us now, the founders of Shock Market. We have Patricia Oliver whose son Joaquin was gunned down in the Parkland shooting. David Hogg, who is the co-founder of March for Our Lives. And Igor Volsky, who is the executive director of Guns Down America.

Patricia, first, to you. We were expecting to have your husband this morning. Your husband, we now know, is on top of a crane near the White House. What can you tell us about what is going on? And presumably, he is expecting to be arrested.

PATRICIA OLIVER, MOTHER OF PARKLAND SHOOTING VICTIM JOAQUIN "GUAC" OLIVER: Well, you know, Manuel is still Joaquin's dad. He is representing Joaquin in a way to be heard.

And since we were in the White House in December expecting being seen by Joe Biden, our president, he didn't receive us so we had to find a way to send a message. And today is a special day because sadly, it's our fourth year without Joaquin.

KEILAR: I know, Manny, as you mentioned, was trying to get a meeting with President Biden and he spent 15 days waiting -- in a way, having his own vigil -- and it wasn't answered. He's brought a lot of attention certainly to the cause. But you really get the sense from him and from others that he doesn't feel like the movement is there that needs to be there to make sure that other children don't have the same fate as your son.

P. OLIVER: Yes.

KEILAR: Is that fair?

P. OLIVER: It's not.

KEILAR: Is that a -- is it a fair characterization, do you think of how Manny feels? Can you tell me about how he feels and about how you feel on this four-year anniversary? P. OLIVER: Well, we feel that we are being -- trying our best to do better to bring this issue into action. We've been working very hard, along with these two guys that I have with me. And definitely, we trust in the new administration because we haven't seen any changes. We at least are pretending to see that the administration could say or could open an office just dedicated to gun violence because we've been seeing more than 45,000 people dying since this administration started working.

KEILAR: David, tell me how you're experiencing this anniversary. And also, part of it is launching Shock Market --

DAVID HOGG, CO-FOUNDER, MARCH FOR OUR LIVES: Right.

KEILAR: -- if you can tell us about that.

HOGG: So, shockmarket.org is a website that helps tally the number of gun deaths and injuries that is -- that have happened in the time since President Biden took office.

I think one of the things that I thought about in this time is one of the first interviews that I had in the wake of the shooting, which was actually, I believe on this show just about four years ago. And on that, one of the things that I remember most distinctly from that in the time since watching it is when I said -- I was asked by the reporter what do you want to say to politicians? And I said we're the kids, you're the adults. You need to do something.

It's four years later and I'm 21 years old and I'm an adult. We need to do something. And frankly, President Biden needs to do something. Because there are certain things that he is leaving on the table that he can do right now, like creating a national office of gun violence prevention and a national director of gun violence prevention, and creating a comprehensive plan to dramatically reduce gun deaths before the State of the Union that he can do right now, regardless of the filibuster and regardless of what's going on in the Senate.

KEILAR: So, Igor, why isn't that happening, do you think?

IGOR VOLSKY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GUNS DOWN AMERICA: I don't know. You have to ask the president. You have to ask this administration. Because as you know, they ran one of the most comprehensive plans to reduce gun violence.

President Biden made personal promises to Patricia, to Manuel, to David that this would be a top priority for him. And the fact that they haven't done everything and anything in their power is unacceptable -- absolutely unacceptable.

KEILAR: He did make some big promises on the campaign trail. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, THEN-CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I made a commitment and I mean it. I made a commitment that I'm going to do everything in my power in office or out of office to get those assault weapons off the street, which I've done once already, and to get those clips that have multiple bullets in them not for sale -- not be able to sell.

And I promise you as president I am going to get these guys. I want to let them know -- I promise you. I'm the only guy that's beaten the gun manufacturers -- I'm only -- the only guy that's beaten the NRA nationally and I did it twice nationally. And gun manufacturers, I'm coming for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: He hasn't come for them, David.

HOGG: He hasn't.

KEILAR: What's your reaction?

HOGG: I'm disappointed. And frankly, if I could say one thing to the president it's that we need you to go out and act right now before the next Parkland happens because there are things that you can do right now to help prevent it that you have not done. We need you to make good on your promises because kids are dying.

KEILAR: That promise on gun manufacturers -- you know, where are we on that? And what do you say specifically to that one?

HOGG: Well, more specifically, that obviously comes down to more authority that Congress has there.